US mulls putting Algerian militant on ‘kill’ list: report

GAS FACILITy ATTACK:Adding the mastermind of the attack that killed 37 foreign hostages would entail a significant US military expansion in Africa

AFP, Washington

Senior members US President Barack Obama’s administration want to put the mastermind of last month’s attack on an Algerian natural-gas facility on a secret “kill” list, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Adding Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar to a US list for targeted killing would entail a significant US military expansion into northwestern Africa, the newspaper said, citing unnamed US officials.

It would mean extending drone strikes and other lethal counterterrorism operations to the region, the paper added.

Thirty-seven foreign hostages, including three US citizens, were killed when gunmen last month stormed the In Amenas gas plant and the Algerian army launched a military assault in response. One Algerian and 29 of the insurgents were also killed.

The push to target Belmokhtar is being led by US military and intelligence officials, the Journal reported.

Some were also pressing for a more direct involvement in the hunt for Belmokhtar, whether with drones, other aircraft or US forces, the paper added.

Such an effort could rely on the military’s special-operations units, with help from the CIA, the report said.

Last month, a US official said that Washington planned to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to improve surveillance of Islamist groups in the region. The base would probably be in either Niger or Burkina Faso, the official said.

The US government has maintained secret “capture-or-kill lists” since after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Journal said.

Separate lists are maintained by the Pentagon and by the CIA, and contain the names of terrorist leaders such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, Yemen-based al-Qaeda bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri and, before his death, Osama bin Laden, the paper said.